July 11th, 2018

Praise Dance This Sunday

We have a very special worship service planned for this Sunday. The InMotion Praise Dance Team - including our own Olivia - will be joining us and presenting an interpretation of the parable of the prodigal son. As we want to encourage all of our kids to experience this program led by other children, we will not have children's church this week. Invite a neighbor and join us for this wonderful day of worship!

​Blessings on the journey, Jim

Sunday's Sermon Snippet

Clutter: Worry (Luke 12:22-34)
We all have clutter in our lives - stuff that gets in the way of other things, that we have to step over or move out of the way, that keeps us from knowing exactly what we have - but not all clutter is physical stuff. We have other kinds of clutter as well in other parts of our lives. Worry, for instance, can clutter our minds. Just like physical stuff, it gets in the way of our getting to more important stuff, we have to put it aside to focus our attention on other things, and it hides what is really important to us out of sight.
We worry about our family, friends, finances, and health - all important things. Yet does that worry do us any good? Jesus says no! Do not worry, he says, about what you will eat or what you will wear. Consider the ravens that do not plant fields or store crops yet eat what God provides. Consider the lilies that do not spin fiber or sew clothes and yet adorn the grass in a garment more beautiful than anything we make. We worry so much over things, and it yields very little.  We cannot add a day to our lives by worrying over things we have no control over. 
So does this mean that we should just sit back and wait for God to take of everything? I don't think that is what Jesus intends either. The ravens may not raise and store crops, but when God provides food they go and eat it. The lilies cannot make the sun shine or the rain fall, but they do not waste the rain and sun they receive. They grow. Consider the raven and lilies: they do try to do what is beyond their control, but when God provides something for them they do what they were created to do. They work with God and use what God provides. 
We were made to love God and love our neighbor. There are things we will not be able to control no matter how much we worry, but that does not mean that we just sit back and leave everything up to God. What our Creator provides for us we should use to love God and one another. That is why we need to clear our minds of the clutter of worry. Worry left to pile up turns to fear, and fear is the opposite of love. If we don't clean up our worries and toss them out, we cannot love - we cannot live out our purpose for which we were made.
How do we clean up the clutter of worries? It is not as easy as sorting through our physical stuff, holding a yard sale, and making a run to the dump. We have to grow into it by practicing the choice of love over fear. Your challenge for this week is this: when you feel worry welling up inside, ask yourself how you can show love to someone in that moment. It does not even have to be anyone related to your worry. Simply make a choice of love over worry and fear.

Living in Community

Thank you to all of our seniors who came out for our lunch and bingo on Sunday!

Thanks to Melissa for putting together a great VBS slideshow!

This Week at Port Church

Wednesday, July 11
9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours
Thursday, July 12
9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours
Sunday, July 15
9:30 am - Worship with Praise Dance: "The Prodigal"
11:00 am - Sunday School
2:00 pm - Welcome for the New District Superintendent, Dayton UMC

Looking Ahead

Back-to-School Bingo - August 12
Wednesday at the Port - September 12 
Potato Drop to benefit local hunger ministries - September 15
225th Anniversary Celebration - September 29
Nativity Workday - October 6